thurs day 118

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After thankfully not a bad journey we arrived in Savannakhet at 6am. Sharing a songtheaw into the centre with an Italian couple we got dropped off outside an expensive looking hotel. Popping in to mainly ask for directions we all started walking to find a cheaper place to stay. A local older chap saw us probably looking a little lost and bewildered so kindly came across to help. Speaking very little English he walked with us up to the first guesthouse - with no one speaking a word of English ( and my Laos not up to much) I think they were fully booked! Kate and I headed off, flagged down possibly the only tuk tuk to take us to another guesthouse I had previously made a note of. Pictures of it looked good online but with not such good reviews I was wary. Arriving to friendly staff and being shown to a nice, clean room we booked in. Having an easy few hours and taking a hot shower we headed out to explore the town. The rough guide books recommended Lins Cafe in the centre of town as a good starting point. Finding it easily and with a lovely owner we had late breakfast and picked up an historical walking map of the town. Savannakhet has a lovely French colonial quarter - Laos was under French rule up until the 1950's, so a certain amount of Laos is still under a French influence. Walking around we saw some lovely old buildings, a town square and a catholic church - as well as the Mekong river. Finding two tourist info places but both being shut - ( low season is starting) there was no opportunity to book a tour out of town - which seemed a bit of a shame. Kate and i decided to walk back to the guesthouse for a bit of r and r, as well as getting out of our sweaty clothes. Heading back in a bit later for some dinner we found a cafe with a pool table - with Kate almost but not quite ( wiping the sweat from my brow ) beating me, I thought we should leave it to just the one game!! Writing up a few days of my blog we then walked over to Lins Cafe for some food. Choosing the Caesar salad followed by a passion fruit cheesecake it was a lovely meal. Both feeling pretty whacked from yesterdays travelling we went back for an earlyish night.

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